INTERN SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME FOR 2027

The Motat Society Oriel Bickerton Intern Scholarship was established in 2025. It was created for the purpose of encouraging and supporting the next generation of heritage and museum collections experts, to support the heritage activities of the museum and to honour the contribution of the late Oriel Bickerton (1919 – 2011) to the textile collection and MOTAT village, and her contribution as an integral member of the early MOTAT management committee and later the MOTAT Society.

In 2025, Caroline Bardua was awarded the scholarship to work closely with the Walsh Memorial Library's Ephemera and Manuscripts collection. Caroline worked through items with skeletal archive records to created expanded and detailed records of the items. In her report that year she mentioned WW1 uniform patches, an Air New Zealand Antarctic Certificate Seal, and the weaving pattern book for an old New Zealand wool mill as particular treasures she enjoyed working on. Caroline is now a member of the MTG Napier museum team, sharing the knowledge and skills she learned here at Motat with the wider museum sector.

As above, the 2026 intern was Pranz Cortez working on rail related items in the collection. The work these interns do bolster Motat's heritage activities. Their contribution is invaluable. Not only does this work assist Motat, but is also supports the development of New Zealand's future museum practitioners, engineers, and who knows what next?

Shortly the Society will be calling for project proposals for the 2027 intern scholarship. If you have an idea for a project that could use some dedicated support from an intern, have a chat with your manager about it.